China's dairy scandal still hurts exports

GUANGZHOU, China, May 7 (UPI) -- China's dairy scandal, which killed at least six children and sickened 300,000 more, continues to plague food exports, officials at a key trade fair said.

"The blow to Chinese food businesses from food safety problems such as the melamine contamination scandal" in September has been almost fatal, said Xu Haoming, a business owner who also is in charge of external trade in the city of Dongtai, 120 miles north of Shanghai.

"What concerns me most at the moment is how the credibility of Chinese food could be restored," he told the official Xinhua News Agency after the close of the 105th China Import and Export Fair, also called the Canton Fair.

Dairy exports dropped 10.4 percent last year to 121,000 tons after the scandal came to light, China's General Administration of Customs reported.

Xu said his company's exports were down 50 percent.

Century International, a trading company based in Dalian, didn't even bring milk powder to the Canton Fair, Xinhua said.

Company representative Han Wenjun said Century International's export business had essentially vanished and the company now imported milk powder to survive.

Many countries, especially the United States, Europe and Japan, raised food import standards after the melamine scandal.

Melamine -- widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware and whiteboards -- had been added to raw milk in China to increase its volume.